O P E N I N G R E P O R T
Berlin, 28 May 2008 ? Today (Wednesday) the 14th International LinuxTag (www.linuxtag.org) opens on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds, with over 200 companies and independent projects participating. During the coming days the organisers LinuxTag e. V. and Messe Berlin once again expect around 10,000 visitors from more than 30 countries to attend Europe?s leading event for open source software. At the same time as LinuxTag, IT Profits 4.0 (www.it-profits.de), the IT business trade fair for the new Federal States, is taking place on 28 and 29. May.
Around 100 companies ? leading international partners
With around 100 companies participating, LinuxTag in Berlin is becoming Europe?s marketing platform for open source software. Exhibitor numbers have increased by almost 30 per cent over the last year. Nearly one in five of the companies on display are from abroad. There is substantial interest in LinuxTag 2008 in the USA. Among the international partners taking part in LinuxTag 2008 are IBM, Nokia, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat and Sun Microsystems.
105 projects - 250 lectures - 40 hours of workshops
This year 105 open source projects are attending the international meeting place for businesses and the community. LinuxTag e. V. and Messe Berlin have invited 85 projects to exhibit at the fair. By next Saturday the organisers of LinuxTag e. V. and Messe Berlin will have welcomed more than 600 developers and supporters of the free software movement. At 250 keynotes and lectures and during a programme comprising more than 40 hours of workshop sessions around 200 speakers will be presenting all the latest on this year?s main topics: pervasive communication, digital lifestyle, business solutions and Start/Move to Linux. Last year?s programme of 25 tracks has expanded yet again, by 25 per cent. Free live streaming of the International Keynotes at LinuxTag 2008 is available from Linux New Media at http://streaming.linux-magazin.de/.
IT directors of ministries present their strategies for Linux and OSS
The traditional Business and Public Authorities Conference is among the highlights of this year?s LinuxTag. Tomorrow (Thursday) Dr. Martin Schallbruch, IT Director at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, will open the conference with a speech on his ministry's strategies for Linux and OSS. Afterwards, Anette Klein, the Foreign Ministry?s head of IT, will outline the steps which the ministry has taken in switching over to open source software. The Foreign Ministry is one of the biggest users of Linux in Germany.
"IT Week in the capital and its regions" with the German state acting as patron
Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier is acting patron of the second LinuxTag to take place in the German capital. Federal Minister of Transport and Government Commissioner for the new Federal States Wolfgang Tiefensee is acting patron of IT Profits 4.0, which is taking place for the fourth time. This year LinuxTag and IT Profits form part of a six-day "IT Week in the capital and its regions", supported by the 2nd German Asterisk Conference for developers and users of VOIP and the 8th @kit Congress on the legal aspects of professional use of IT.
The 14th International LinuxTag in the capital
LinuxTag 2008 is taking place on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds from 28 to 31 May 2008. LinuxTag is Europe?s leading event for Linux and free software, and a joint platform for open source projects and companies in German-speaking countries, in Europe and overseas. This four-day event brings together producers, supporters, software products and communities. LinuxTag Berlin is organised by Messe Berlin GmbH in association with LinuxTag e. V. Additional information is available on the internet at www.linuxtag.org.
IBM Germany and Sun Microsystems are the official sponsors of LinuxTag 2008.